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Gratitude Stories – Ed
Ed Smith was born at Newport Hospital in 1948. Both of his sons were born here too, as were three of his grandchildren. So, when he was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) at the hospital in 2015, he knew he was in the right place and would get the right care.
“I was in a state of panic when I heard that news,” Ed admits, reflecting back. “But for nine years, Newport Hospital's cancer specialists have treated my CML with compassion, consistency, and excellent results. I am very grateful for everything they have done.”
Alessandro Papa, MD, Hematologist-Oncologist, has been championing Ed’s cancer care every step of the way. “Dr. Papa and his staff are calm and comforting and have provided me with the utmost in professionalism. From diagnosis, to medication, from dealing with complications of certain medications to assuring me of the implications of different symptoms . . . collectively, the team has allowed me to live as normal a life as possible under the influence of CML.”
In addition to his CML, Ed was born with von Willebrand disease, a lifelong bleeding disorder in which the blood doesn't clot properly. So, anytime he has a procedure scheduled at Newport Hospital— and there have been several, including hernias, gallbladder removal, knee procedures, and colonoscopies—he sees Dr. Papa first to be administered a clotting promoter drug intravenously to reduce the risk of perioperative bleeding in surgical settings.
Summing up his decades of care, Ed flatly states, “Newport Hospital has kept me healthy and alive for 76 years. It’s an asset to our community, and I’m very glad that it’s right here in our backyard.”